Considering Mike Tomlin’s legacy in Pittsburgh, there is no denying that football blood runs through his veins. Having led the Steelers to a Super Bowl title in his second year with the club, Tomlin found most of his success as a coach in the NFL. But as a player, he didn’t get a chance to play for any franchise while his late dad, Ed Tomlin, came agonizingly close to having his. After getting picked by the Baltimore Colts in the 10th round of the NFL draft in 1968.

Ed never managed to break into the first team. Soon after, he found his match in the Canadian Football League after signing for the Montreal Alouettes. His best on the gridiron came away from the NFL, as Ed was renowned for his contributions as a civil rights activist. At the tender age of just 13, he joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. However, he never had a close bond with his family until his tragic demise in 2012.

What happened to Mike Tomlin’s father Ed Tomlin?

Going back to the year when Mike Tomlin lost his father, he was coming off an overtime defeat against the Broncos that ended the Steelers’ season. However, it was nothing compared to the tragic news Tomlin heard after the loss. At the age of 63 years old, Ed passed away with an apparent heart attack after returning from a fishing trip.

Ed’s brother Michael Tomlin recalled the happy memories they shared “I love him. He wasn’t just my brother. He was my best friend. We talked about everything. We talked every night.” Well, it was indeed a tragic moment as Tomlin was heavily renowned for his work in community affairs.

His contributions to NAACP were spoken in its highest regard, as one of his former colleagues, Whitfield Jenkins, added, “He added a lot to the NAACP. He was a leader and had the ability to draw people to him. And He worked well with a broad category of people across race lines. He was a thoughtful person and had a great knowledge of the community history and civil rights history.” Tomlin was announced as the president of NAACP in 2003, as he dedicatedmost of his life to the organization.

However, when it comes to his relationship with his family, Ed never had a close bond. Instead, his wife Julia remarried Leslie Copeland when Mike Tomlin was just six years old.

Who is Steelers’ HC’s mother Julia?

After Tomlin’s parents’ divorce, he used to live with his older brother, mother and younger sister in a three-bedroom house. While he used to sleep with his uncle, Tomlin’s mother and sister shared a different room. And his maternal grandparents lived in the third room. Going back to his childhood days, Tomlin shared, “Nuclear families and so forth, that was something mystical to me. Man, I just saw that when I watched Brady Bunch.”

Well, even during the summer months, Tomlin remembered how his mother forced him to read Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer and Gulliver’s Travels. Although his friends thought it was weird, Julia wanted his son to be surrounded by books. “If you wanted to hustle my mom, hustle her on some education. One encyclopedia came every month or so. Like, next month ‘S’ is coming, that’s going to be big!” However, not much information is available about his mother and the profession she followed.

But considering her presence throughout Tomlin’s childhood, she indeed shared a close bond with her son. As Tomlin continues to lead the Steelers, his parents, Julia and his late dad, Ed, must be proud of their son’s success in the NFL.

With that being said, do check out our latest Think Tank exclusive interview with Doug Sanders. It’s packed with personal insights on college football, the current NFL season and more.